Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?

We were all stunned when the power went off during the Super Bowl, but should we have been?

If you ask anyone what they thought of the 2013 Super Bowl, you'll either get a reaction that they didn't watch, or that they liked a few commercials, or that the ending was good.

But everyone knows what you're talking about if you mention the big black out.

The power for HALF the stadium went out without warning about a minute or two into the third quarter. This means half time was completed and the game had started again.

Can you imagine what would have happened if the power had failed during the half time show?

This would have screwed up the timing for the game, the half time show, the commercials, and the coordination to get the stage off set on time.

And worse, at 4 million dollars per 30 second spot, the 34 minute delay would represent millions upon millions of revenue impacted in the biggest spectacle on live TV of the year.

My family enjoyed the network's attempts to fill the time, and explain to viewers why the delay and what it meant. And in short, that's the finest bit of live TV that I have seen in a long time.

The network is so fortunate that their broadcast booth didn't go dark, and that they had some expert commentators who had the ability to ad lib to cover the gaff.

But what's the real story here?

Everyone wants to applaud that the super bowl was set in New Orleans, but is this an example of the infrastructure perhaps needing a bigger boost.? Nobody is saying that the electrical system is inadequate...but perhaps we should be asking harder questions about this.

Just how fragile IS our power system.? For those of us who live in the electronic medium, it is critical that the power keep flowing. But for your family, how essential is the power grid?

We should be asking our power companies just how sound they really are. Now.

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